How far should you hit your 8 iron?

[vangator]

It's not how far, it's how accurate. I've backed off by one club to gain accuracy. I used to always hit my 8 iron 150 yards with no problem. Well the problem was I'd push a few and pull a few and cut a few and draw a few. I got tired of chipping and blasting from sand traps.

[Pretzel]

There is no one "correct" distance to hit your 8-iron. During the course of one round of golf (the second day of the 4A state golf tournament) I hit my 8-iron anywhere between 130 and 195 yards due to the wind conditions of the course (it was about 25 mph sustained with gusts of up to 40 mph). The important part is that you hit your 8-iron a proportional distance to your swing speed.

If you have a swing speed with your driver of over 110 mph (or over 90 mph with your 6-iron) I would expect you to hit it between 155-175 yards on an average shot (depending on altitude and temperature). If your swing speed is 100-110 mph I would expect it to go around 145-165 mph on an average shot, and so on. Some people deloft their irons more at impact, others don't. Some swing proportionally faster with their irons than they do with their driver, others swing slower.

As for the need to use a sand wedge for anything 140 and in, I would say that shouldn't be necessary. I would assume that the OP has 3 wedges of higher loft than his pitching wedge in his bag (likely a 52, 56, and 60), which actually spaces the gaps out nicer than if you only had one wedge afterwords. My wedges are set up such that I can hit full swings with every wedge, then a 3/4 lob wedge, followed by a 1/2 sand wedge, then a 1/2 lob wedge, then a pitch shot gap wedge and so on. I never have to hit any kind of shot besides a full, 3/4, or 1/2 swing (plus pitch shots) for nearly any yardage as I get closer to the green. It gives me a set of reference points so that I know which club to pull at any given yardage inside a full lob wedge, so that I don't have to worry about making the lob wedge work for the entire gap between it's full swing and my chip shots.

As for the original topic, the correct answer is this:

You should hit your 8-iron longer than your 9-iron and shorter than your 7-iron, ideally situated exactly in the middle between the two.

[jamiesmith900]

Some great comments, I think I will stick with my swing speed for now as it's working I have a very slow backswing then loads of lag and whip it to impact there are nice centre of club marks appearing on my 714s so must be hitting them clean out centre guess I could try slow down see what outcome would be

[Lihu]

Some great comments, I think I will stick with my swing speed for now as it's working I have a very slow backswing then loads of lag and whip it to impact there are nice centre of club marks appearing on my 714s so must be hitting them clean out centre guess I could try slow down see what outcome would be

No point slowing down??? If it's your natural swing speed, then why slow down?

[billchao]

No point slowing down??? If it's your natural swing speed, then why slow down?

I second this. You're hitting the sweetspot consistently, why slow down?

[mvmac]

Some great comments, I think I will stick with my swing speed for now as it's working I have a very slow backswing then loads of lag and whip it to impact there are nice centre of club marks appearing on my 714s so must be hitting them clean out centre guess I could try slow down see what outcome would be

Yeah if you're hitting it in the center there is no reason to slow down. Don't overthink it

[Patch]

The question is " how far should you hit your 8 iron". I would guess as far as you can, and still leave yourself an easier next shot.

I carry the ball with my 8 iron 135 yards on average. After the ball hits the ground, the turf conditions take over, and that 135 yards can be more, and sometimes even less. .

I have a nice and easy swing that allows me to stay balanced and in control during my swing.

My 175+/-  yard club is my 7 wood.

[Lihu]

The question is " how far should you hit your 8 iron". I would guess as far as you can, and still leave yourself an easier next shot.

I carry the ball with my 8 iron 135 yards on average. After the ball hits the ground, the turf conditions take over, and that 135 yards can be more, and sometimes even less. .

I have a nice and easy swing that allows me to stay balanced and in control during my swing.

My 175+/-  yard club is my 7 wood.

Given the short 130 yard distance I hit my 8i, my next shot better be with a putter!

[vangator]

Some great comments, I think I will stick with my swing speed for now as it's working I have a very slow backswing then loads of lag and whip it to impact there are nice centre of club marks appearing on my 714s so must be hitting them clean out centre guess I could try slow down see what outcome would be

What is causing your 18 handicap? Is it putting and chipping? What are your FIR and GIR numbers? That's the most important number, not yardage. If you are accurate and consistent hitting those yardages, then work on what's causing the high numbers.

[zeusdsk]

There are many posts on "how long" but if it is the same swing and it does not correlate with the improvement on "how much" then it does not matter. I would fix my swing first.

[jamiesmith900]

Hi vangator My handicap is off a long battle trying to learn this hard sport I have only recently started striking so well I have put a lot of effort in going to range 5 times a week then playing on Sunday's I struggled with shanks for months, so now its time to put it all together short game putting etc.....

[vangator]

Hi vangator My handicap is off a long battle trying to learn this hard sport I have only recently started striking so well I have put a lot of effort in going to range 5 times a week then playing on Sunday's I struggled with shanks for months, so now its time to put it all together short game putting etc.....

I'm trying not to be critical or judgmental. Length is the name of the game. If you can control that length, then real scoring is possible. Takes a lot of time. I wish I had the time and money to put into my game. I was always a long hitter, but without practice, those long shots were just deeper into the woods. I've backed off 15-20 yards in the name of playing from the short grass. But I'm a geezer.

[jamiesmith900]

Going on flightscope today so should be able to see what's what, post soon with results:)

[rehmwa]

I personally think you might benefit from slowing your iron swings down a touch, it might give you more control and make your yardage gaps more manageable?

I read somewhere that good players only swing at 80% of their full power! And I suspect your using 110%?

this ^   and the neat part of is that as the accuracy improves, the OP could likely work back to that club.

that's a pretty big 8i (i'm not a short hitter, and I'd have to really lean on a 7i to get it close to that)

I'd think smoothing/softening/shortening it out would be a HUGE benefit here and put more of the clubs into play in a positive way.

regardless, I see the OP needing to load up a lot of wedges in the bag

[Pretzel]

Jamiesmith, I would swing at the level that you feel comfortable. Look at what mvmac said here:

Yeah if you're hitting it in the center there is no reason to slow down. Don't overthink it

I fell into the trap of swinging softer just to swing softer (with no real purpose for it besides hearing you should swing at 70%) earlier during the high school golf season this year. It actually decreased my accuracy and made it harder to control because I wasn't swinging with my natural rhythm, which is faster.

As long as you are swinging such that you stay in balance throughout the swing and never are falling after you finish, you don't need to necessarily worry about swinging softer.

The problem with the first quote is that shortening the distance you hit your clubs just to hit them shorter does absolutely nothing! It doesn't put more clubs into play because that's what you have shorter wedges than a 48* for. A 52*, 56*, and 60* wedge would be an excellent addition to your bag if you don't already have wedges similar to those just to make it so you don't have to rely on your pitching wedge from 140 and in. Don't change the rhythm of your swing to try and hit the ball shorter, fine tune your current swing for accuracy and add in clubs that will only make it easier for you.

[jamiesmith900]

Thanks pretzel that's great advice I feel more comfortable hitting fast I was on 155 par 3 at weekend and hit a 9 iron crisp with speed hit green lovely and spun back 5 foot left of hole so I do feel at ease with my swing am off to flightscope now :)

[Lihu]

Thanks pretzel that's great advice I feel more comfortable hitting fast I was on 155 par 3 at weekend and hit a 9 iron crisp with speed hit green lovely and spun back 5 foot left of hole so I do feel at ease with my swing am off to flightscope now :)

Cool, looking forward to the results.

[Dave2512]

Not one to post Grinch comments but every time I see one of these prodigious distance threads it's full of silly anecdotal claims made by guys that struggle to break 100. Which to me is an indication of poor overall ball striking aka inconsistency with every club. I've been there so I get it, still there. Not sure how far I "should" carry my 8 iron but my use of it is utilitarian, everything from chipping to you name it.

I know exactly my twenty shot full swing average is from FlightScope sessions with my instructor. It will be ten or so similar shots, a few odd bad shots and a couple WTF things favorable and not so favorable that I ignore. But that's on flat ground with perfect lies and none of the on course performance tension I face during a round. I use that number as the basis for on course decision making, lie, course and weather conditions playing a big part. It's rare I face a situation where just the yardage leads to grabbing club X. Mostly because I am not that good and with shorter clubs like an 8 usually just trying to land on a safe part of the green. I might hit the flag with a laser and get 165 but if it's a sucker pin I play it short, left, right, whatever makes the most sense. Golf on numbers alone really doesn't work as I move  around the course.